Congratulations is appropriate

This has been a year for congratulations. We have come to the end of this year 2010 ans it has, in many ways, been a year well done. South Africa has seen the World Cup Football come and go and it was a joyful time for our whole country. A great time of fun and noise and laughter and of course, football.

Here in our own home we have great cause for congratulations. I have to say at this point, because I am a Christian , it is not really right to boast and this is true. But you see, we have no family live near - by ; no granny who asks - how did they fair. How was the exam? How did they do? I have good friends who love these boys. For that I am so grateful.

Grade 2 is done and dusted for Thomas. He is our very, very clever ( can I say gifted), ADD boy. He has done very well at school this year and has pressed on despite his struggles and triumphs. He received the BEN KETTLE AWARD for enrichment. Now there is a thing. We were thrilled. Thomas loves enrichment. He lives for it and eats for it. He is obviously stimulated by it and we are grateful.

Grade 4 is over for James. He has been consistent in working hard and doing well. He is diligent and clever and uses that which he has been given. We are very proud of him . He has really done well in his exams and despite the stress they caused his marks reflect the effort he put in.

Both Thomas and James have had exceptional teachers ( who shall remain nameless) . I am so grateful to God for them both. Loving and caring and good at their jobs. Actually , outstanding at their jobs. I salute you two women. Thank you for giving your lives for these kids. You are very special and treasured in our hearts.

So, I guess that is the boast over. I am sorry if I offend you by this post. Please forgive the I I I in it all. My ongoing prayer is that our great God will use these two very different and very talented children for His glory and His alone.

Amen!

From That Broken Place

Tonight I write from that very broken place inside. I am sad, so very, very sad.

I am actually unable to write about the thing that has broken my heart yet again. I am just so very very sad and the sadness always leads to questions and questions have no answers. The why is left to hang in the air like a dusty christmas decoration taken out yet again for the tree.. I have no answer to the question of sadness except that it is and always will be - all consuming and there, in that deep and secret place.

I want to run away and hide from life but life rolls on like the waves ; one after the other in that endless rhythm...... can you hear them ... on and on.

I have a yearning inside to be happy and full and alive. But all that is there is broken and left alone to be. Words spoken in anger or in truth are words that stay and grow and take on a shape of their own. How do we flee from the words that have shape within us. How ?

The question that is left to hang on the tree....unanswered.

"Hello. How are you?" is the question most asked. "I am Ok." I smile knowing that I am lying.

Opperation Christmas Box

About 9 years ago a small and extremely special group of friends and I got together to launch Opperation Christmas Box. With the help and support of our awesome church - St James Kennleworth, Cape Town - we have been able to collect these great gifts for underprivaledged children in Cape Town.
The idea is to take a shoe box and wrap the lid and bottom separately. This is to be a special little storage box for the child who receives the gift. he or she can keep it all year. Then the idea is to fill the box with items for either a little boy or a little girl. The age range is 2 - 9. The list of items inside the box must include ...

1. something to eat
2.something to drink ( ot a milky drink)
3. something to play with
4. something to draw with or colour in
5. perhaps something to wear
6. a card or picture with a little meassage - optional



Over the years we have collected beautiful boxes from the loving members from St James Church. WE have been able to support and partner with our church in Khayelitsha , Hout Bay and on the Cape Flats. The children have heard about Jesus' love for them through out the year and now they get to experience a little kindness from others. For some of these children , this is the only gift they get at Christmas.

Some of the churches we share these boxes with, use them to invite the parents of the children to church. They also get to hear about Gods love for them found in Jesus Christ.

I want to encourage those who read this blog to make a box for a little child. I also want to encourage you to come and sort through the boxes with us in early december. It is a wonderful opportunity for the family to get ' stuck in' and do something practical for others. Each year we go through each box . It has been a great opportunity for our children to be involved in sorting and the questions and discussions around wealth and poverty and Jesus and who he is , have been priceless.

So, to all who have contributed to Opperation Christmas Box over these 8 years I want to say Thank You. Please be encouraged by the blessing your box is to one little child in Cape Town and what a tool it is in the hands of those who share the gospel with their parents and grandparents.

Training The Owner while Training the Dog.

For the past 4 weekends I have had the fortunate experience of taking my dog for the willing experience and purpose of training him. Luke, our dog is a year old Spaniel. He is lively and funky and has a really shaggy coat. He is full of energy and very disobedient. All these things have slowly been transforming in front of our eyes.

Our trainer, Jan, is extremely patient and experienced dog lover. I am still trying to figure out if he actually likes people or not. I say patient because we, the dog owners can be very slow to learn. Over these 4 weeks we have learnt how to get our dogs to sit; take food ; walk next to us on a lead and off a lead and how to stay them and down them. These may sound like easy things to do but they are incredibly taxing for an owner like myself with a wild and woolly crazy dog. Non the less, Luke can sit and walk fairly well on a lead and off it now and I am extremely proud of him.

Todays lesson felt like a counciling session. Jan informed me that my dog was feeding off my high energy. What??? Me high energy??? Heck, had not noticed. Perhaps he meant " feeding off my fast pace" anyway, I had a little chuckle. Wonder if the rest of my family "feed off my high energy"?

The Unbearable Burden of 'being perfect'!

I write this blog from my heart knowing that it is not perfect in its use of language or in its content. I write this blog post with a very heavy heart for myself and a deep longing to stop living life the way it is for me right now. I do not want to carry the load of being Perfect anymore and I do not want to pass that load onto my children or demand it any longer from my husband and from those around me. I know that this desire and the working out of it in my life will in itself be a messy work. I recognize that for some in my family , the need to be perfect comes from within and is fed from without. Everything shouts - YOU NEED TO BE PERFECT. - buy this ; get that ; change this; swap that ; paint here ; tweak there ; diet , run , sleep, have sex, have more leisure time, time alone..... etc, etc, ( please dont mis hear me. Lots of these things are right and good in their place).

Here goes....

This morning at the children's nursery school , a little boy I know quite well, had a T-shirt on that said'" I am perfect like my dad". Now in of itself this just a little boys shirt and we all get what it is saying but it kind of summed up for me some of the things I have been thinking around the idea of Perfectionism and "being Perfect".

One of the big messages today is this one.... It is an important life goal to gain perfection in all areas of life. No we may not have bought whole heartedly into this idea but there are glimpses of it in our lives if we really look and lift up those little corners. We are encouraged to start with our selves. The perfect body ; no fat, no flab, no stretchmarks, not to much sun just the right amount of exercise and healthy eating on all levels. Go Organic if you can and vitamins, doctors check-ups and the list goes on and on..... No dont get me wrong here, being healthy is good and right. I am using these examples to illustrate the bigger idea. The pursuit of the Perfect Body which then leads you to the perfect partner. Following on from this the Perfect Home, Car, Dog, job , bank, bank balance, and the list is endless. Depending on age and stage we could all find ourselves along the continuum of the line of perfection. Which leads to the perfect child and the perfect friend for the child which then leads to the perfect schooling system and the Perfect school and etc... etc.

I am a christian woman and so I find the idea of perfection in christian thinking on life ; in christian books on marriage, parenting, schooling, discipline and the like. The pursuit of the Perfect Life surrounds us.

There are many who help us on the way to being perfect. Gyms litter the landscape; health food shops ; educational toy shops; sport coaching ; life coaching ; self - help book shop shelves ; magazines and if all else fails there is always my friend 'google'the like. So help in gaining the perfect this or that is close at hand. Much of this stuff is written and put forward by well meaning people. Being Perfect is big business.

( Once again, please dont misread me. If you read me at all :)I think some of these things have great value and are good to do ; read and enjoy.
'
The pursuit of' being perfect' is a burden for humanity. All around I interact with people who are exhausted on every level. We say things like ," it is the time of year" or " I Just need more sleep" -( which may be true), but I wonder if more and more if the pursuit of the Perfect is not what is exhausting us. It is so tiring fighting for something which is not attainable.
Here is the crux of the thing about searching or working for The Perfect is that when we can not find it ; hold it; keep it; have it or when the perfect partner turns out to be not so perfect and the perfect baby screams all day ; the perfect profession pays so very little or the perfect house begins to date what do we do then?

I suspect the desire for The Perfect Life is modern, Western Man 's desire to know God. God is Perfect and all he does is perfect.
He has a perfect plan for mankind.
It is this.......He purchased for himself ; us weak, weary, rebellious and broken people.
He did this by giving himself to die on a tree for our sin against him.
It seems so far fetched and so unreal and frankly so yesterday.
But the reality is that God used that which is foolishness to us - he chose the foolish things of this world to shame the wise and the weak things of this world to shame the strong.
What seems to be weak and simple is actually the God of the Universe's Perfect Plan for weak and sinful man.
Here is the beautiful thing We can know this perfect God.
Ill say that again. We can actually know God.
To Know God is to accept God's perfect way in sending his son Jesus to die on the cross for our rebellion against him ( God that is) and in return we receive from God many things; but for the purpose of writing about The Perfect Life, I want to focus on one thing we receive.

We are set free!! We are free to live our lives for God. We are free to live our lives loving others. We are able to be not so perfect ; and live in a not so perfect world with not so perfect children, friends, relatives and spouses. We ourselves can be not so perfect because we are free. Yes, we must work hard at life in all its areas. But the thing is , when we mess up and when our kids mess up and when our friends mess up and ....and ... and... we are free to keep loving , forgiving and helping each other. We are free to never give up.

If you like I feel burdened by the false desire to Be Perfect , be encouraged to seek the One who is Perfect himself and who is able to set you free to live.